Over time and particularly with exposure to external influences such as light or harmful atmospheric substances, the hair loses or changes its natural color and its shine or luster. For this reason, hair coloring agents are widely used either at hair salons or at home.
So-called oxidation dyes are used for permanent, intensive colors with suitable fastness properties. Such coloring agents typically contain oxidation dye precursors, so-called developer components and coupler components, which form the actual dyes with one another under the influence of oxidizing agents or atmospheric oxygen. The oxidation dyes are characterized by excellent, long-lasting coloring results. Coloring or tinting agents, containing so-called substantive dyes (“direct dyes”) as the coloring component, are typically used for temporary colorings.
Apart from dyeing, the lightening of the natural hair color or dyeing the hair a blond color is the very specific wish of many consumers, because a blond hair color is regarded as attractive and fashionably desirable. If substrates are to be lightened or even bleached, the dyes coloring the substrate are mostly decolorized oxidatively with the use of appropriate oxidizing agents, such as hydrogen peroxide.
In hair dyeing, particularly in hair dyeing at home, the problem arises that natural color nuances are completely covered, so that multi-tonal colorings are difficult to realize.
So as to give the hair a natural appearance, it is known in the prior art to partially decolorize dyed hair by the selective use of oxidizing agents. The hair sections (“streaks”) to which the oxidizing agents are applied thereby bleach out at least partially, resulting in a multi-tonal hair color. The oxidizing agent is applied thereby with a brush or applicator, wherein the hair not to be treated is optionally protected from decolorizing by aluminum foil or a so-called “highlighting cap. ”
This type of application does in fact solve the problem of the most possible natural coloring of hair, but allows only the placing of “highlights.” The hair must be dyed again to achieve “lowlights,” i.e., darker sections. In the previously described cases, therefore, a time-consuming second decolorizing or dyeing step would be necessary, which follows the first dyeing. In particular during use at home, therefore, the entire hair must first be colored, before the consumer can place “highlights” or “lowlights.” Many consumers regard this as too time-consuming and also as frustrating, because the essential color-changing step occurs at the beginning and is only “corrected” in a second step.
It is therefore desirable to provide a method that enables multi-tonal coloring in one coloring step. In this regard, the coloring of the hair with the creation of “highlights” or “lowlights” should proceed so that a result is visible immediately after the coloring agent is rinsed out. Furthermore, it is desirable to create “highlights” or “lowlights” without smearing the streak result.
Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with this background of the invention.